5 Takeaways From The Thunder’s First Win
By Adam Joseph
Oct 28, 2015; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; San Antonio Spurs center
(33) shoots the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams (12) during the third quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Defensive Stops When It Counted
The defense in this game was not perfect, but you wouldn’t expect as much this early into the season. It was only the first game after all! But this game displayed some elite offense and defense from both teams from the majority of the game.
There were times where the Spurs were just being the Spurs and looked unstoppable offensively, and even good defensive possessions from the Thunder still led to baskets for San Antonio. Leonard really had it going, mixing it up with drives, jumpshots and post-ups to tally 32 points (a career high) for the night.
However there is clear buy in from the players to prove their doubters wrong, as many critics automatically point to the likes of Waiters and Kanter as to why the Thunder don’t have the pieces in place on both ends to win.
When it really mattered the defense stood up to get crucial stops to complete the comeback and secure the win. Back-to-back possessions saw Serge Ibaka beat Aldridge on a post-up and force him into a miss, and Kevin Durant did the same with great one-on-one defense to deny Leonard on the next trip down.
To finish the game, the Thunder defended well on the last Spurs set with 21 seconds to go to force a bad Danny Green shot and help ensure an important win for Oklahoma City to kick off this season.
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